Coincidences . . .

Funny how things coincide and work themselves out . . .
I was booked in to meet with one of the Graphistudio representatives at Focus on Imaging at Birmingham's NEC as well as picking up another Pocket Wizard from The Flash Centre's stand and funny how things pan out as I was able to check out one of their new Wedding Book covers.
A previous Wedding Book order needed a new cover and Sheila from GS suggested that I ask for the old cover to be returned and I now use this as a sample. The current Bride whose Wedding Book order is about to go to print was unsure of the cover style I suggested and as it was of the same design as I now have a sample of I mailed it to her to make sure she was happy with the choice. Ultimately she didn't like the cover so we had a quick rethink which was not a problem as the order had not gone to GS and the Bride liked the look of the new leather die cut covers and I was able to ask questions about them this morning, see actual examples and even sniff the leather - a question from the Groom - "does it smell like real leather?" The cover passed the sniff test and this last part of their order is confirmed and I'm ready to upload to the GS site even though it seems to be offline at the moment.

Driving to the NEC was a breeze - 1hr 35mins there and 1hr 50 mins back although the £8 for parking is always a killer. I originally wanted to stay and catch a Pocket Wizard talk, hosted by The Flash Centre but by 1345 I was wanting out and thinking I could miss traffic, I bailed out early. Just as well as a possible panoramic job came in and I was able to talk properly to the client and get figures and urls to her before the close of play.

Sunday's Route F

After last Sunday's marathon City recce ride in freezing temperatures, it was time for a change as I headed out towards Chorleywood and the countryside! As you might be able to see from the screen grab of my route laid out on Google Earth, I had a 26 mile trundle this morning in mild temperatures and even some sunshine.

Leaving North Harrow I travel north towards Hatch End, Pinner Green, and Northwood on the A404 where I hit the first climb of the day to pass the aptly named Mount Vernon Hospital. As one catches ones breath the road undulates before a steep descent into Rickmansworth with a top speed of 36 mph! Still on the A404, I work my way around Rickmansworth and on towards Chorleywood on a constantly climbing road and I cross over the M25 before turning left and dropping into Chorleywood. Once through the village I turn sharply left and start the second climb of the day that needs the "extremely" low gear of 42 x 18t - as low as my straight through freewheel allows! I start out of the saddle and then settle into the slow ascent back in the saddle. Not a long hill and I'm soon back in the usual 16t and away from housing and into wonderful Hertfordshire lanes. These lanes rapidly close down to single track and one has to be very careful as the Sunday drivers are already out. I eventually emerge onto the B4442 towards Chalfont St. Giles before immediately turning left onto an undulating section that precedes the best descent of the day into Maple Cross. There are two bends that need to be respected but otherwise a fast downhill that never disappoints. Onto the main road to Denham but I soon turn off left towards Harefield and the last big climb of the ride. Through Harefield I take the Harefield Road that eventually pops out back onto the A404 near Mount Vernon. From here it's a fairly downhill run back to North Harrow only hampered this morning by a freshening head wind. Back to North Harrow after just over 26 miles, completed in 1 hour 46 minutes - not a record time but again, good for me at this stage of the year.

Image shot last July just before the Tour de France arrived in London - not the usual matrix sign text content for the Marylebone Road!
Camera specs - Nikon D2H c/w 50mm f1.4 lens

Shopped at Brent Cross and survived

Just like Father Jack from the wonderful and oft repeated series, Father Ted, if there is a drink at the end of it - I'll go! Maybe that's a little unfair and a gross exaggeration but I survived our shopping trip to the venerable Brent Cross yesterday, Saturday. On my own shopping list was the purchase of a new slimline Apple keyboard which I first saw one on one last week in John Lewis in Reading - hey I get all the interesting shopping trips. Irritatingly they were out of stock or I would have snaffled one then and at the Apple Store in Brent Cross there were no such shortages. I don't usually get too excited about keyboards but this latest design is just soooooo slim, sleek and it even seems to react to my sausage fingers more quickly - definitely worth the upgrade.


The image above as well as the red door picture gives away the location of the Father Jack reward after surviving Brent Cross. The Castle on Harrow on the Hill is a wonderfully relaxed traditional Victorian Bar without screens or music and serves great food and where we can usually find a table. Not surprisingly it can be very busy on Sundays at lunchtime and is worth booking a table as we did recently when we had lunch with Evelyn and Lju for Sinead's birthday.

Off to Birmingham and the Focus exhibition at the NEC tomorrow and have an appointment with the Graphistudio team amongst other things to look at. There are a number of talks and tutorials available and one that is of obvious interest is all about Pocket Wizards and is hosted by the Flash Centre.